Stopper



1,616,530 J. DEWAR v CINDER NOTCH STOPPER July l0, 1928.

Filed Feb. 19, 1927 jaw/for fa/m65 gea/aff Patented July l0, 1928.

l JAMES DEWAR, OF CI-IICGQILLINOIS.

CINDER-NOTCH STOIPER.

Application led February 19, 1927. Serial No. 169,498.

My invention relates to a cinderv notch stopper for blast furnaces andhas particu lar reference 4to a power operated `cinder notchstopper bymeans of which the cinder 5 notch is opened to allow the slag to flowout of the furnace, and also by means of which the stopper is 'insertedin the cinder notch opening without the necessity of inserting vthestopperby hand or guiding it into position by-h'and, as has been thepractice heretofore.

Another and further object of my invention is the provision of a cindernotch stopper which is positive in its operation' and which swingsupward and backward'away from the cinder notch'opening out of the lpathof the heated slag, sparks, hot gases and the like which escapethrough the opening, and which can be easily and quickly inserted andwhich is ust as positive in its yoperation as far as the insertion ofthe plug in y the cinder notch is concerned, as it is in the opening,thus enabling the operator to quickly close the cinder notchstoppeipieven'ting the escape of gas or the molten slag.

I am aware that pow-er notch Stoppers have been in use before, .buttheir construction has been of such a character that they are notpositive enough in their operation or quick enough in their applicationto positively'cut off the flow of slagthrough the cinder notch opening'should it occur, or else they bind in the monkey during the removal andinsertion of the' stopper. In the early operation of blast furnacesthese cinder notches were closed by arstopper mounted on the end ofadolly bar and when it was desired to open the cinder notch the end ofthe dolly bar was struck with a Sledge, loosening the plug and the plugwas then withdrawn by a workman. The opening of the cinder notch was asimple operation but the closing yof the notch was not so simplea'nd wasalso very dangerous because the'sparks, molten slag, hot gases and thelike, being forced out through the cinder notch opening rendered theclosing operation exceeedingly dangerous. Also, it was difhcult tolocate the exact position of the opening for the insertion of the plugand the dolly bar,voften resulting in the loss of metal and taking theblast off the furnace,

orties.

In my improved apparatus I provide a dolly bar i'iaving a fixed guide atthe rear end thereof, the upper end of wh ich engages a track whichguides the dolly bar directly into the cinder notch opening in asubstantial horizontal position w hen it is desired to close the openingafter allowing the escape of the slag and cinderfrom the furnace.

These and other objects of my invention will be more fully and betterunderstood by reference to the accompanying sheet of dravv*v ings, inWhich:

rlhe figure is a side elevational view of my improved invention.

Referring now specifically to the drawing,

a blast furnace Wall 10 is shown having a cinder notch 11 therein whichis closed by a large vfrusto-conical shaped cooler 12 and a smallercooler'l inserted yinthe end of the large cooler 12, with a small cooleror cinder notch monkey 14: inserted in the cooler 12, the cinder notchmonkey having yan ope-ning therethrough adapted to be closed by a hol'-low plug 15 mounted upon and in screwthreaded engagement with a pipe 15,which.

in turn is secured to a dolly barf16, the dolly bar 16, the'pipe 15'LLand the plug 15 all being in horizontal alignment with each other. Thedolly 16 is'supported intermediate its ends by one leg 17 of an A-leverpivotally mounted at 1,8 upon a frame member 19, the other member 20 ofthe A-lever having a link 21 secured thereto which is connected to acylinder 22 by a piston 23 which operates in the cylinder 22. der 22 hasa pipe 23L The upper end of thecylinconnected thereto and the cindernot-ch opening.

A counterweight 25 is provided which is securedto the lever arm 20 by acable 25 which assists in the opening of the cinder notch stopper andyalso acts as a counterbalance against the Weight of the dolly bar in theclosing operation.

At the rear end ofthe guide lever 27, the lower en dolly bar 16 is a dof this lever be# der.

ing vbent into alignment with the dolly bar 16 and secured thereto by apair of rivets 28, so there is no relative movement between the arm 27and the dolly bar 16, this guide lever being in efl'ect a continuationof the dolly bar 16. The upper end of the lever 27 has a link 29 securedthereto in the end of which a roller 30 is mounted which is adapted toengage upon a guide member 31 secured to the member 19 in any suitablemanner, as by a pair of bolts or rivets 32. The lower end of the guidemember 31 is slightly angularly disposed and extends backward and upwardfor a short distance and then is sharply curved upward for aconsiderable distance,l so that in the initial movement backward of thedolly bar on the opening of the cinder notch and for a distance ofapproximately two feet the dolly bar is moved substantially horizontaland thereafter the rear end of the dolly bar is caused to travelupwardly and vin a. somewhat circular direction in order to quickly drawthe plug 15 out of the path of the cin- VVhen it is desired to insertthe plug 15 in the cinder notch stopper, the reverse operation takesplace, with the rear end of the dolly bar being dropped more rapidlythan the forward end passes forward, the result be-ing that the dollybar is very quickly placed in a horizontal position preparatory toentering the cinder notch, this form of they guidemember 31 enabling thedolly bar to be quickly drawn out of the path of the molten cinder andbecause of its particular shape making the positive insertion of thevplug into the cinder notch and easy and quick operation. The dolly bar16 at thc outer end thereof has an enlarged head 33 thereon which isadapted to receive the blows from the sledge to loosen Vthe plug 15should the stopper become frozen in the monkey 14.

'A trough 34 is provided having an upper portion 35 and a lower portion36, the trough 34- having a pipe 37 connected to the bottom thereofwhich is secured to a second pipe 38 by means of a swinging oint 39,this pipe in turn leading to the pipe 15L and is connected to a smallerpipe running longitudinally inside of the pipe 15a by means of which acooling fluid such as water is conveyed to the plug 15, this water beingforced through the plug 15 and returning through the pipe 15a which isconnected to an out-let pipe 40 which is connected to a second pipe 41vby a swinging joint fil-2, this construction being the ordinary commonconstruction employed for the purpose of cooling cinder notch Stoppers.

The operation of the device is exceedingly simple in that when it isdesired to open the monkey 14, pressure is admitted in the lower end of.thecylinder 22 through .the pipe 24 which exerts a force in a backwarddirection upon the. dolly bar 16 and pulls the plug 15 out of the monkeylain a horizontal direction. As the dolly bar travels backward it israised a slight distance because of the travel of the A-lever and alsoby the elevation of the rear end of the dolly bar running on the trackor guide 31. When the plug 15 is approximately two feet away from thecinder notch opening the curved portion of the guide carries the outerend of the dolly bar upward and at the same time it travels outward sothe dolly bar and plug are moved away from and out of the path of themolten slag and hot gases through the cinder notch opening. When it isdesired to close the cinder notch opening` the operator exhausts thepressure in the lower end of the cylinder and admits pressure to theupper end thereof, forcing thel cylinder down and raising thecounterweight escaping 25- and forcing the stopper 15 into the openingin the monkey 14 very quickly, due to the short distance which themonkey is posi-` tioned away from the cinder notch opening and also tothe curvature of the track 31 which allows the rear end of the dolly barto drop very quickly, horizontal positionso that it readily enters theopening in the monkey 14 thus effectively and quickly closing the cindernotch opening- While I have described more or less pre.- cisely thedetails of construction, Ido not wish to be understood as limitingmyself thereto, as I contemplate `changes in form and the proportion ofparts and the substitution of equivalents as circumstances may suggestor render expedient without departing from the spirit or scope of myinvention.

I claim:

1. A. cinder notch stopper comprising in combination, a dolly bar, astopper mounted on one end thereof, an operating lever con.- nected tosaid dolly bar intermediate the ends thereof, power operatingmeansconnected to said lever, a guide connected to the rear end ofsaid dollybar, and a track placing the device in adapted to travel.

2. A cinder notch stopper comprising in combination, a dolly bar, astopper mounted on one end thereof, an operating lever connected *tosaid dolly bar intermediate the ends thereof, power operating means con?nected to said lever, a guide lever connected to said dolly bar towardsthe rear end the-reof, a track upon which the upper end of the saidguide is' adapted to'travel, andguiding means on the upper end of thesaid lever, the said track extending backward and upf ward for a part ofits length and thence being curved upward. y

3. A cinder notch stopper comprisingl in combination, a dolly bar, astopper mounted on one end thereof, 'an operating lever connected tosaid dolly bar intermediate the ends thereof, power operating meansconnected to said lever, a guide lever connected to said dolly bartowards the rear end thereof, a. track upon which the upper end or thesaid guide is adapted to travel, and guiding 'means on the upper end ofthe said lever, the

said track extending backward in a Subi stantial horizontal position forits length and thence being curved upward. Signed at Chicago, Illinois,this 15th day of February, 1927.

` JAM-ES DEWAR.-

a part of 10y

